Alzheimer's disease and eating challenges often go hand in hand. As Alzheimer's progresses, poor nutrition can aggravate confusion and lead to physical weakness, as well as increase the risk of infection and other health concerns.

If you're caring for a loved one who has Alzheimer's, understand what causes eating problems and how you can encourage good nutrition.

Consider underlying conditions

If your loved one is having trouble eating, check for underlying problems, such as:

Oral problems. Make sure dentures fit properly and are being used. Check for mouth sores or other oral or dental issues.

Medication effects. Many medications decrease appetite, including some drugs used to treat Alzheimer's. If you think medications are contributing to eating problems, ask your loved one's doctor about substitutions.

Acknowledge declining skills and senses

In the early stages of Alzheimer's, your loved one might forget to eat or lose the skills needed to prepare proper meals. Call to remind him or her to eat or help with food preparation. If you make meals in advance, be sure to review how to unwrap and reheat them. You might also consider using a meal delivery service.

In addition, your loved one's sense of smell and taste might begin to diminish, which can affect interest in eating.

As Alzheimer's progresses, your loved one might forget table manners and eat from others' plates or out of serving bowls. Changes in the brain might cause him or her to lose impulse control and judgment and, in turn, eat anything in sight — including nonfood items. During the later stages of the disease, difficulty swallowing is common.

Expect agitation and distraction

Agitation and other signs and symptoms of Alzheimer's can make it difficult to sit still long enough to eat a meal. Distractions at mealtime might make this even worse. To reduce distractions, turn off the TV, radio and telephone ringer. Put your cellphone on vibrate. You might also clear the table of any unnecessary items.

If your loved one needs to pace, try cutting a sandwich into quarters and giving him or her a section while he or she walks.

Discourage your loved one from drinking alcoholic beverages. Although alcohol might stimulate the appetite, it can lead to confusion and agitation as well as contribute to falls.

Get visual

Use white dishes to help your loved one distinguish the food from the plate. Similarly, use placemats of a contrasting color to help distinguish the plate from the table. Stick with solid colors, though. Patterned plates, bowls and linens might be confusing.

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